System of a Down: Jet Pilot Meaning

Jet Pilot Lyrics

Wired were the eyes of a horse on a jet pilot,
One that smiled when he flew over the bay,
Wired were the eyes of a horse on a jet pilot,
One that smiled when he flew over the bay.

My horse, is a shackled old man,
His, his remorse, was that...

1. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 26th 2012 !⃝

   well im just here to say that SOAD had nothing to do with 9/11 thats just funny to think about. their from a country by india its just pure coincidence that the album was releaced 8 days beore 9/11. i think it has something to do wih a fighter jet pilot who got shot down and survived it and can what ever reason can not fly anymore. they usualy sing about their life (just look at soil lyrics perfect example) prolly about a war story told by one of their dads uncles grandparents EXT.
2. Akfrancis

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 11th 2012 !⃝

   They are Iranian... hmmm? Anyone could purchase the CD well before 9/11. As a matter of fact my fiance' purchased the CD (with this song on it) before 9/11. It was not released after 9/11. In the song they refer to the horse as an "shackled old man" duh??? Not a form of transportation. But I don't think it is a coincidence; I think they were referencing what had been planned out for a while!

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 25th 2011 !⃝

   Seriously? Listen to it! It's about Pearl Harbor...Flying over a great bay and smiling as he did it? Right before the skies grew gray? This song was before 9/11. It's about Pearl Harbor or some other type of bombing. It's. Not. About. 9/11.
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 6th 2011 !⃝

   Lebanon had a 911 of their own kinda way before this sep. 11 01...it is coincidence but nothing to do with us 911 lebanon.had.bombings and.serj was born in leb. In beirut so their songs relflect alot of the past such as the armeinian genocide in 1915 ...
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 18th 2011 !⃝

   The whole cd is linked to 9/11 they knew whats up is it so hard to believe our government is that complexed to poise the masses an prepare for this shit yrs in advance a band that can play an sell there soul for fame an riches..... Dont be so niave folks...

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 8th 2011 !⃝

   I interpreted this song as last minutes in life of Iraqi airforce pilot.
   'Wired were the eyes of a horse on a jet pilot
   One that smiled when he flew over the bay"
   
   Anxiety of a person flying to it's death.One last look over Persian Gulf.
   
   "My horse is a shackled old man
   His, his remorse, was that he couldn't survey
   the skies, right before
   right before they went grey
   my horse and my remorse
   flying over our great bay"
   
   "Horse" is often used as slang for transportation.Ever heard biker call their motorcycles "iron horse" ?
   His "horse" or in this case combat airplane is outdated and absolete there referring it as shackled old man (grounded obsolete airplane).
   Therefore he (and his plane) do not control they sky (survey the skyes).
   And when sky goes gray.....well...this clearly describes times of war.
   That why singer he used word "our bay".Referring to Ancient Persian/Arab people.Because band members originate from Armenia.
   
   "My source, is the source of all creation"
   Referring to ancestry, a cradle of humankind and civilizations (Sumerians, Babylonians etc.)
   
   "Her, discourse, is that we all don't survey
   The skies, right before
   Right before they go grey"
   
   We(as people) failed civilization, by using war as a means of persuasion.
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 27th 2011 !⃝

   The song has copped a bit of flack for any connection people can allude to September 11. Especially as the CD was meant to be released close to Sept 11, 2001 and was pushed back due to the attack.
   
   Years ago I read a quote from Serj what the song is about though. It refers to a lonely horse who lives near a bay. The horse has always wished to see the great bay he lives near from the sky and one day a jet pilot passing allows the horse to share his eyes so he can view the great bay from the pilots perspective.
   
   I know it reads like a Jim Henson tale but that's what I remember reading and I think that is superb imagination.
8. KingJazza

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 21st 2010 !⃝

   I believe this song is about the desensitization of people to drugs, hence the line "Wired were the eyes..." which basically means the person was under the influence of drugs.
   It may also mean that the arabs are happy to be bombing America and other counties, as they "smiled as they flew over the bay". The bay being the water the arab jet pilot flew over before he asploded himself happily.
   Americans were all on the wagon, or so to speak, and were all affected by September 11 bombings and other arab attacks, so perhaps the "horse" is a metaphor for americans, due to the fact that they were all oblivious to the fact that (wired were their eyes) they were going to be attacked even though they were already in the middle of it (horse on a jet pilot) and the fact that the arab attacks were inevitable (my horse is a shackled old man). It may also show the american government has remorse for not being more careful about the arab threat (my horse, and his remorse, flying over the great bay).
   I believe in conclusion this song is about the regret of americans and the sheer stupidity of arabs trying to become AnHero by ella hu agbaing themselves.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 10th 2010 !⃝

   Okay its a bit ironic and probably but I just find it interesting and ironic. 9/11 was after this. But don't you think that they are to much of a coincidence. Remember that somebody before predicted something related to it. Many people heard this maybe they were one of them?
   
   Anyways, I think what they're trying to say is that they could've surveyed the sky better. The horse maybe is the control tower or radar room manager or whatever. And when he found out the jet pilot infiltrated, the jet pilot was pleased, thus the line "one that smiled when flew over a bay". The grey skies fit with the dust and debris the twin towers left. This is about 99% wrong, but it was a HUGE coincidence that these lyrics were very similar to 9/11 terrorist attack.

Latest Articles

• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)
• 
  Let’s Go to the Hop - Ignore That Door’s Four Bunnies and a Beatbox